Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "名字" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 名字 in Chinese?

名字 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /miŋ˧˥.tsz̩/. It means “name.” ming-dz: a rising first syllable with a back nasal, then a weak toneless second with no vowel at all.

ming-dz: a rising first syllable with a back nasal, then a weak toneless second with no vowel at all.

名字 /miŋ˧˥.tsz̩/

míngzi

A climb followed by a weightless tail. The neutralisation is worth noting because 字 carries a full falling tone as an independent word — so the same character is a decisive fourth tone alone and completely pitchless here. Neutral tone overrides the citation form entirely.

Listen: 名字

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Sound it out

míng A nasal m at the lips, then an "ee" sealed at the back of the mouth by ng. The voice climbs from mid to high, and the nasal gives the ascent a landing point.

zi Toneless: the tongue tip at the teeth, a "ds" release, then a buzz with no vowel. Short and light, riding at the high pitch míng finished on.

Hear it in a sentence

你叫什么名字？

Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

What is your name?

Listen: 你叫什么名字？

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你叫什么名字？ keeps nǐ at a full dip because jiào falls. Then jiào plunges, shén climbs, me fades, míng climbs again, zi fades. Two rises separated by a toneless syllable, and two toneless syllables in a six-syllable question — which is what keeps it flowing rather than marching.

Where English speakers slip

Restoring the falling tone to zi gives míng zì, which sounds like someone reading from a form. Let it fade. The nasal on míng drifts forward to mín, a different syllable, and the rise is often flattened because the first half of a compound feels unstressed to an English speaker.